Netanyahu's speech may be evidence of hubris run amok on his part, but it is also a vivid illustration of the pervasive and destructive rise of partisanship in American politics over the last few decades.

As we get ready to commemorate Dr. King and so many others who marched to Selma, I would argue that George W. Bush has forfeited the right to march. He does not get to partake in such a solemn and sacred time in our history that moved us forward as a nation when all he did was set us back.

To get back to that level and maybe even surpass it, we need someone in charge at the Federal Reserve who understands that creating conditions that increase the purchasing power of American workers' paychecks is a part of her mandate. From what she's said and done so far, it appears Janet Yellen is exactly that kind of Fed chair.

After consulting with my colleagues, my staff, my family, and my conscience, I will regretfully not be attending the address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the House Chamber on Tuesday.

Federal aid is not supposed to go to colleges that are not responsible and capable in handling it. The admissions these college owners have made to the IRS are enough; there is no reason to wait for an IRS audit. Taxpayers do not need to put up with this.

Netanyahu's ongoing Congressional speech fiasco is only the most recent example, whereby he has weakened Israeli security on multiple fronts. In choosing to publicly challenge President Obama on his home turf, the Prime Minister has further eroded their personal relationship -- a feat that seemed nearly impossible.

The major oil company Royal Dutch Shell wants to drill in the Chukchi Sea this summer and that could, in the long term, spell doom for one of the last great, relatively untouched oceanic environments on the planet.

Republican Congress or not, big-money opposition or not, progressives can win victories over the next couple of years if they stay creative, stay aggressive, and never give up. The last couple of weeks have given proof enough of that reality.

We are offended by the situation in which we find ourselves, in which education policy is dictated by billionaires who never taught a day in their lives, while our patiently gained professional expertise is ignored. Thirty days of testing is sufficiently outrageous and -- we believe -- indefensible.

We cannot raise awareness about the heroines and heroes of history, and then turn around and be cowards 50 years later. This Congress must deal with overt moves among states to obstruct people's right to vote, and they must restore federal protections of voting rights.

The notion that we can judge success after one or two years is simple ignorance. Test scores can be valuable to students, but education is far more than a few dozen tests in Math and English. Education is not naturally a part of politics, and when politicians get involved in the details, they inevitably make a mess.

Like the swallows returning noisily to Capistrano each spring, Congress has returned to D.C. following another midterm election, this time with the Republicans firmly in charge and already imposing their will on the legislative agenda.

Republicans in Congress have been saying for five years now that their top priority is to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. The problem, however, is that they are now scrambling to come up with something (anything!) that would help convince John Roberts to vote against the ACA.

In the face of such powerful opposition, how can we account for Bibi's stubborn determination? Why is he so resolute? Why all the bluster and bombast? Anthropologists have a deceptively simple answer: Bibi is behaving like a Melanesian Big Man.

I refuse to sit idle while others attempt to dismantle Social Security. I will not surrender to the fuzzy math of the anti-government crowd who think deregulation and privatization is a panacea for all ills -- real or imagined. I have a simple proposal that would keep Social Security solvent without slashing benefits.

The Federal Reserve Board is openly mapping out an actual job-killing strategy and drawing almost no attention at all for it. The Fed's job-killing strategy centers on its plan to start raising interest rates, which is generally expected to begin at some point this year.

These last years have been a grizzly tale of the expansion of American oil and natural gas exploration, and drilling from the fracking fields of Texas and North Dakota to the energy-rich Gulf of Mexico.